With the increasing adoption of automation and Artificial Intelligence, the need for
more cybersecurity professionals is increasingly important. Increasing awareness and
interest in cybersecurity careers requires providing all students meaningful exposure
to cybersecurity concepts and careers during middle school. Teachers need interactive,
turnkey curriculum that doesn’t require a computer lab but does include assessments
with answer keys.

Our
Cybersecurity for Middle School Teachers and Students (CyberMiSTS) project will host summer workshops that provide middle school educators the
knowledge, skills, and tools they need to actively engage students and expose them
to cybersecurity concepts and careers.

In the
CyberMiSTS workshops, teachers will learn from cybersecurity researchers, engage in hands-on
activities and customize cybersecurity course materials for their own classrooms.
Rather than dive deeply into underlying math and science, the focus will be on key
concepts and big questions to encourage participation from a broad and diverse set
of students.

Educators are expected to use the curriculum in their own classroom during the 2020/21
school year and provide data and feedback back to the CyberMiSTS team.

CyberMiSTS’ goal is increasing student interest in cybersecurity careers; it does
not address cyberbullying.